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The word lingers between us for a second too long and I lightly close the file without taking my eyes off her. “Yes.”

“And if the latest victim was supposed to be a student here,” she says, “then this is a direct continuation of something that started in this environment.” I look at her when she finally raises her eyes. “His first victim should be linked to Seraphin bay. I think it's already here, in the old cases.”

“The classified files,” I say simply.

She understands immediately. The old cases, the ones I already checked. She’s right, there’s a cold case that is similar to his victims. But she can’t get access to it. It’s already threatening for her to just work on this with me. I don’t want to push it even more.

She takes a slight breath, but her gaze doesn't move.

“You don't have access to that,” I say more firmly. “And you're not supposed to go near it. You're not cleared.”

She looks up at me this time. “But you are.”

I don't reply.

“Working with you on this case,” she continued, “is already outside the bounds of what’s required. So don’t talk to me about integrity as if it were still intact.”

My jaw tightens slightly. “I told you from the start that I didn’t want to put you in danger. Especially now that I understand what this means to you.”

She glanced down at the file for a moment, then back at me. And her voice changed. “A nineteen-year-old girl died here,” she said. “We found her body. We have a signature, a pattern, a continuity. And you’re asking me to back down to protect what exactly? An uncertain future?”

I look at her, and understand that this is no longer a discussion for her.

She gently closes the file. “I’ll find a way,” she says simply.

“No,” I replied immediately.

I stand up without really thinking, my hand grabs her arm for a fraction of a second, “We’ll talk about this again. We finally have a clear pattern, Mireya.” I pause, then add more softly, “Don’t disappear into your mind. Not this time.”

“I won’t,” she promises

I pick up my file, and before leaving, without really looking at her, I whisper, “Tomorrow, same place, same time. And… don’t do anything stupid.”

The door closes behind me.

And I’m gone.

55

Mireya

Play - Sappy (Early Demo) by Kurt Cobain

And If I do it alone

We come in straight from the mats. Morning training is probably the worst thing here. Blue stayed awake all night long causing mayhem so I know he’ll probably be asleep all day which is something less I have to worry about.

I can’t feel my legs anymore, the intense training is not mixing well with my insomnia.

So I drag myself out after a quick shower and walk toward the next class. The hallway smells like disinfectant and sweat, and everyone’s talking too loudly, riding the tail end of the drill. Hayzel walks backward in front of me, stretching her arms over her head. “If I ever have to disarm another guy twice my size, I’m suing.”

“You’d lose,” I say. “On multiple counts.”

“Then I’m going to fake my own death.”

“You’d probably also fail the paperwork.”

She grins and winks at me before replying, “Worth it.”